Spent a fortune on Alton Towers and nearly everything was closed

[Foxy200]

Warning to anyone thinking of taking the kids to Alton Towers this Easter, AVOID it unless you have checked exactly what is open.

We drove all the way up yesterday, paid for a hotel last night and again for tonight, and arrived to find that nearly everything is shut. Only a handful of rides are actually open.

It is absolutely disgraceful to be charging full ticket prices when so much of the park is closed. After just an hour of walking around and seeing the reality of it, we asked for a refund and were told no.

The disappointment for the children has been awful, and to say I am angry is an understatement. We have spent a huge amount on tickets, travel and hotels for what has turned into a complete waste of money.

Families deserve to know before making the trip, this has completely ruined what was meant to be an Easter treat.

Oblivion has been open this week.

ffs is there anything in this country that isn’t monumentally shite right now?

I would complain to Alton Towers & Merlin. Likely they will give you passes to go to any Merlin park on another day. This happened to us when they closed a couple of rides while we were at Chessington.

Frankly, if this is how they treat people who save up to go, then they are going to deserve what happens when Universal opens.

We are avoidning AT after the RAP issues.

We tend to go to Drayton Manor instead. They opened this week and not all of the rides were open when we went this weekend, but they had the common decency to only charge half price.

Why??

Why are you telling the OP to commit fraud

the right course of action is to complain to the park.

But they provided a service, the OP still went to the park, the complaint is it was expensive given things were closed. I bet the t&c’s will say something like not all rides will be open every day due to weather/maintenance etc so no refund would be due.

I believe banks are starting to clamp down on this now. Claiming back via your card is supposed to be when its not possible to from the provider not for every transaction you decide is not worth the money

We had a similar day. It's driving distance for us so I can't comment on the hotel situation but we had bog standard tickets. Spent hours queuing for things to be closed before we got on them. One of the other parents went to customer services (ironically I think she had a fair old queue there).

She was offered replacement tickets and pushed them saying it wasn't good enough so we were all offered silver fast pass tickets. We went back and had a great day.

I would initially say YABU but you’ve hardly listed any actual rides.

Yes it’s sad that mine train and oblivion are closed. I love those rides. Other theme parks also don’t open water rides all year round for obvious reasons.

Can you list what you wanted to go on that was closed?

I remember this happening to us at Drayton Manor.

I agree that in the Easter school holidays, most attractions should be open. It would be busy enough. Went to a retail park this morning and yes it's the holidays but I couldn't believe how busy it was, worst than a Saturday afternoon.

I hve to agree that Merlin parks are a disorganised shitshow in general. But the one time i did complain while at Thorpe Park after 2 rides broke down after i had queued for them for ages, they did give us some free fasttrack tickets.

Another warning: if you buy the tickets through Tesco rewards, they up the prices quite a bit so it may not be worth it.

Normal price for the day we’re going was £38pp, but via the Merlin/Tesco link was £49!!

We had the same problem back in September, drove 4 hours there and none of the 'big' rides were open. Nothing on their website bar one ride that was closed for maintenance. I emailed them with a complaint and they offered me 2 fast track tickets per person valid for 1 year. Didn't really do it justice but we've decided to go later this year and take advantage of the fast track. Also hoping we have a better experience this time round

Because OP could have looked up online prior to going to see what was open and what was closed!

Im a great believer in chargebacks for "not as described" but the card issuer will want to see that You have made a reasonable effort to settle your dispute with the providor. Write them a stiff letter asking for a refund so you can show you have attempted to negotiate. Then do a chargeback if they will not budge.

But the website is not reflective of when you actually get there - they close rides after an hour of queueing, then open after an hour and you have to start again. They're really short of money so maintenance is poor.

But op doesn’t live near the park, so booked a hotel in advance. Of course she wouldn’t be able to see what was open.

Most people book the tickets in advance to get a cheaper price.

Yeah the appalling ride availability has been well documented since they opened....same as drayton manor

We have been merlin pass holders for 8 years this is the first year weve not done opening weekend at towers (locals) because I saw in the weeks running up to it how bad it was going to be.

This country is so so bad at customer service and value for money now. Being passholders we are regulars at all merlin attractions for years and the decline is evident. Such a shame.
We wernt going to renew our passes at Christmas as usually get gold and thought we'd have a break while they sorted themselves out but then there was an offer for £69 passes with barely an restriction dates so we thought sod it 🤷‍♀️

Couldn't even get the well publicised bluey rollercoaster right, opening day it kept shutting and second day didnt open til gone 2pm as it "cant run in the rain" laughable really.

Saving for DLP, Florida and Universal in years to come. Id rather do one mad crazy good experience once than do a mediocre one 12 times a year 🤷‍♀️

Go to Efteling. We were there over new years with rain and snow and everything was open.

Dont go when its wet. It doesnt run in the rain 😂

LOL. Why?

Good job we've got such an arid climate!

I live right by the park and it has gone downhill. Food is now ridiculous as well.

I think all Merlin-run attractions have become pretty terrible to be honest, we've had awful experiences recently. They just absolutely squeeze people for the maximum they can while making their parks practically unusable through closures and overcrowding. They deserve to go bust in my opinion.